Parchment is an ancient writing support formed from dehaired animal skins. Its manufacture comprises a series of liming and scraping steps before being stretched and dried under tension. Historical parchment represents a valuable source of cultural heritage which, until now, has limited investigations to noninvasive analyses to infer ink composition, degradation, or physical changes over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of persistent organic contaminants of which some are toxic and bioaccumulative. Several PFAS can be formed from the atmospheric degradation of precursors such as fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) as well as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs) and other ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) replacement compounds. Svalbard ice cores have been shown to provide a valuable record of long-range atmospheric transport of contaminants to the Arctic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article focuses on a large-scale parade in the UK that is often overlooked in research concerned with the sociology of political emotions and group dynamics; "Pride in London". This is an annual parade celebrating, and raising awareness about, the LGBTQ+ community and commemorating the Stonewall riots. Following a brief description of the study context, participants and methods, the article illustrates the use of reflexive thematic analysis of 23 interviewee accounts of the parade.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Noninsertional Achilles tendinopathy affects both athletes and sedentary individuals, and its incidence is rising. Conservative management is the mainstay of treatment, but a variety of operative techniques have been described to treat recalcitrant cases. We seek to outline the current available evidence for surgical management of noninsertional Achilles tendinopathy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComput Struct Biotechnol J
August 2019
The covalent attachment of sugars to growing glycan chains is heavily reliant on a specific family of solute transporters (SLC35), the nucleotide sugar transporters (NSTs) that connect the synthesis of activated sugars in the nucleus or cytosol, to glycosyltransferases that reside in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and/or Golgi apparatus. This review provides a timely update on recent progress in the NST field, specifically we explore several NSTs of the SLC35 family whose substrate specificity and function have been poorly understood, but where recent significant progress has been made. This includes SLC35 A4, A5 and D3, as well as progress made towards understanding the association of SLC35A2 with SLC35A3 and how this relates to their potential regulation, and how the disruption to the dilysine motif in SLC35B4 causes mislocalisation, calling into question multisubstrate NSTs and their subcellular localisation and function.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is often associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. To disentangle etiological relationships between these conditions and identify genetically-determined metabolites involved in NAFLD processes, we mapped H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomic and disease-related phenotypes in a mouse F2 cross derived from strains showing resistance (BALB/c) and increased susceptibility (129S6) to these diseases. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes identified diet responsive QTLs in F2 mice fed control or high fat diet (HFD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) are a diverse group of malignancies that remain a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Relatively few reliable cell lines currently exist. Rapidly developing technology for genomic profiling with emerging insights into candidate functional (driver) aberrations raises the need for more models for in vitro functional validation of molecular targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe increased expression of leads to hepatosteatosis in mice. This study aims to investigate the genetic control of hepatic transcription and to explore its impact on NAFLD risk in humans. Through a locus-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) mapping in two human liver sample sets, a PNPLA3 intronic SNP, rs139051 A>G was identified as a significant eQTL ( = 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Infants <32 weeks' gestation should not be exposed to topical iodine and its avoidance is recommended during pregnancy and breast feeding. Exposure to contrast media and topical iodine is frequently used in many preterm neonates.
Aim: To determine whether thyrotropin levels in preterm infants are affected by exposure to intrapartum/neonatal topical iodine and/or the use of iodinated contrast media.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr
January 2016
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess whether objectively measured physical activity at mean ages 12 and 14 years are prospectively associated with ultrasound scan liver fat and stiffness (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase [AST], and γ-glutamyl transferase [GGT]) assessed at mean age 17.8 years.
Methods: Participants were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
Background: Greater adiposity is an important risk factor for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Thus, it is likely that dietary intake is involved in the development of the disease. Prospective studies assessing the relation between childhood dietary intake and risk of NAFLD are lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope protein gp120 promotes neuronal injury which is believed to cause HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Therefore, blocking the neurotoxic effect of gp120 may lead to alternative strategies to reduce the neurotoxic effect of HIV. In vitro, the neurotoxic effect of M-tropic gp120BaL is reduced by the chemokine CCL5, the natural ligand of CCR5 receptors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: We aimed to determine the association of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with central and peripheral blood pressure (BP), in a general adolescent population and to examine whether associations are independent of adiposity.
Methods: Using cross-sectional data from a subsample (N = 1904) of a UK birth cohort, we assessed markers of NAFLD including ultrasound scan (USS) determined fatty liver, shear velocity (marker of liver fibrosis), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) at a mean age of 17.8 years.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the commonest cause of chronic liver disease in developed countries. Treatment depends on the stage of disease, and non-invasive methods for risk stratification are urgently needed. Lifestyle modification (aimed at weight loss and increasing physical activity) and management of the features of metabolic syndrome are vital for all patients with NAFLD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Aims: Adiposity is a key risk factor for NAFLD. Few studies have examined prospective associations of infant and childhood adiposity with subsequent NAFLD risk. We examined associations of weight-for-height trajectories from birth to age 10 with liver outcomes in adolescence, and assessed the extent to which associations are mediated through fat mass at the time of outcome assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: The impact of adolescent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on health, independent of fat mass, is unclear.
Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the independent (of total body fat) association of ultrasound scan (USS)-determined NAFLD with liver fibrosis, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia among healthy adolescents.
Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis in participants from a UK birth cohort.
Clin Liver Dis (Hoboken)
April 2013
There is increasing evidence for a correlation between intestinal microbiota, bacterial translocation and hepatic steatosis. Intestinal microbiota affects nutrient absorption and energy homeostasis. Altered intestinal permeability may favor the passage of bacteriaderived compounds into systemic circulation, causing a systemic inflammatory state, characteristic of the metabolic syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNAFLD is the most common liver disease worldwide but it is the potential evolution to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that makes NAFLD of such clinical importance. The current work provides an overview of the main mechanims and potential therapeutical insights involved in NAFLD, NASH, fibrosis and HCC progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol
November 2010